Backboard.



J. B. HORTON.

BAOKBOARD.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 16, 1910.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

r I I Attorneys I tjNlTD STS ATINT QFFIQ.

JONATHAN BLAIR HORTON, OF ELKIN, NORTH CAROLINA.

BACKBOARID.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JONATHAN BLAIR HOR- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elkin, in the county of Surry and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Backboard, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved means for supporting telephones upon a wall so that the telephone may be readily taken down if found necessary without in any way noticeably marring the wall.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this class so arranged and constructed that the telephone may be mounted upon a wall, where the only proper support which could be afiorded the telephone is an ordinary narrow molding strip. It is well known that where telephones are set up upon ordinary plaster walls, the securing screws in a short time work through the plaster and the telephone becomesloosened from the wall unless indeed wooden plugs are driven into the wall in which event the removal of the telephone leaves the wall in an unsightly condition.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the supporting means that the telephone cannot be lifted directly therefrom, but must first he lifted and then moved laterally before it can be disengaged so that accidental detachment of the telephone from the wall is rendered improbable.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a wall showing the support afforded for the device of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspec tive view of the rear side of a telephone en1 bodying the present invention. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through the telephone back board and the support upon the wall. Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of a fragment of the telephone back board, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view in detail of a slightly modified form of the invention.

In the drawings, there is illustrated a telephone 5 of the ordinary construction and the transmitter of the telephone is indicated by the numeral 6, it being specifically designated, although of the ordinary form, inasmuch as the supporting device for the telephone is so relatively positioned with respect to the transmitter that whether one or another form of telephone is used in connection with a supporting device already in Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 16, 1910.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

Serial No. 555,795.

place, the position of the transmitter will not be changed; that is it will not be lowered nor will it be raised.

is the ordinary form employed in connection with any ordinary wall telephone. In mounting the backboard of the telephone upon the wall, particularly where the wall is of plaster and the only support which is afforded from the telephone is in the nature of an ordinary molding strip, indicated in the drawings by the numeral 8, a second strip 9 of a length about equal to the width of the back board of the telephone is interposed in the length of the strip 8 and is secured to the wall by nails or screws.

For a purpose to be presently explained, a number of supporting hook members are arranged upon the transverse cleat 9 in spaced relation and in horizontal alinement, and each of these hook members includes a shank which is threaded and is indicated by the numeral 10, and a V-shaped head 11. hen properly threaded into the strip 9, these V-shaped heads will each have their arms in a vertical plane, as illustrated in the drawings. The rear face of the back board of the telephone is recessed, as is indicated by the numeral 12 and titted into this recess is a channel member which is preferably formed from a strip 13 of sheet metal which has its upper edge portion bent rearwardly downwardly at an acute angle, as at 14, and its lower edge portion bent rearwardly at right angles, as at 15. The rearwardly bent portion 15 of the channel member is formed at equidistantly spaced points with notches, indicated by the numeral 16, these notches being equal in number to the supporting hooks previously described and being relatively spaced the same distance as are the said supporting hook members. In a like manner, the rear face of the back board of the telephone is formed with short grooves or notches 17 which are located one beneath each of the notches 16 in the channel member and increase in depth in an upward direction, registering at their upper major ends with the said notches 16. It will now be understood from an inspection of the drawings that when the back board of the telephone is placed against the strips 8 and 9 with the lower ends of the grooves or notches 17 registering with the supporting hooks, the board may then be moved in a downward The backboard of the telephone is indicated by the numeral 7 and direction, whereupon the hooks will ride up in the said grooves and will enter the channel member through the notches 16, and inasmuch as the portion H ot the channel member has the same angle of inclination as have the upper sides of the supporting hooks, the upper arms of the hook members will engage in the angle between the body 13 of the channel member and the downwardly rearwardly bentportion 1%. thereof so that the back board of the telephone will be supported in place upon the wall. his construction is embodied in the form of the invention shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, and it will be understood that after being so engaged with the supporting hooks, the back board of the telephone is to l e moved laterally to the right in the said tiq'ure ot' the drawings so as to bring the notches of the channel member out of registration with the hooks. .Yith the telephone so supported, it will be readily understood that it cannot be dismounted except by moving it lat erally to the left and then lifting itfrom enga ement with the hooks.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, however, the downwardly rearwardly bent portion 14- ot' the channel member is also formed with notches which are indicated by-the numeral 18 and which are displaced with respect to the vertical planes in which the notches 16 are located so that when the telephone is slipped down into engagement with the hook members and is moved laterally to the right, the

18 so that reverse lateral movement of the telephone will be prevented except after the telephone has been bodily lifted to bring the members out of engagement with the notches l8 whereupon it may be removed, as above described.

It will be observed from inspection of the several figures of the drawings that the tele phone properly mounted upon the wall will have its transmitter 16 located directly opposite the channel member in the back board of the telephone so that if such channel members in various styles of telephones are similarly lo :ated, one style of telephone may be substituted for another without in any way varying the position of the said trans mitter, that is without raising or lowering the same. Also, it will. be readily understood that should it be desired to mount the telephone upon some other part of the wall or move it to another room in the house, this removal will not leave the wall in an unsightly condition.

hat is claimed is 1. In a telephone support, the combination with a telephone backboard, of a channel member carried thereby and having an acute down-bent flange and a flange beneath the first mentioned flange, the last mentioned flange being formed with notches, and supporting hooks adapted to pass through said notches and seat in the angle beneath the first mentioned flange.

2. In a telephone support, the combination with a telephone back board, of a channel member carried thereby and having a flange projecting downwardly at an acute angle, and hook members adapted to seat in the angle of the said flange.

3. In a telephone support, the combina tion with a telephone back board, of a channel member carried thereby and having a flange projecting downwardly at. an acute angle and having also a flange located below the first mentioned flange, the last mentioned flange being formed with notches and j the first mentioned flange being formed also hook members will engage with the notches i with notches out of vertical alinement with the notches in the last mentioned flange, and hook members adapted for engagement in the angle afforded by the first mentioned flange.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JONATHAN BLAIR HORTON.

Witnesses C. N. BODENHIMER, ALEX CHATHAM, Jr. 

